Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Alexander Hawkins: Iron Into Wind

Alexander Hawkins: Iron Into Wind

By John Sharpe
April 14, 2019
View read count

On his second solo album pianist

Alexander Hawkins

piano
b.1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Alexander Hawkins creates an adventurous and deeply personal synthesis which draws from both jazz and classical wellsprings. One of the foremost representatives of an exciting younger generation of British musicians, his talents are on display not only on his own projects, like Uproot (Intakt, 2018), but with growing circle of collaborators that reads like a who's who of contemporary jazz:

Evan Parker

saxophone, soprano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Evan Parker,

Taylor Ho Bynum

cornet
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Taylor Ho Bynum,

Harris Eisenstadt

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Harris Eisenstadt,

Rob Mazurek

trumpet
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Rob Mazurek,

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee,

Wadada Leo Smith

trumpet
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Wadada Leo Smith,

Louis Moholo-Moholo

drums
1940 - 2025

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Moholo-Moholo,

Gerry Hemingway

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Hemingway,

Nicole Mitchell

flute
b.1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Nicole Mitchell,

Esperanza Spalding

bass
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Esperanza Spalding, and

John Surman

saxophone
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">John Surman form just a selection.

But it's alone at the keyboard that he can express himself most clearly. While his first solo effort Song Singular (Babel, 2014) evoked connections across the jazz tradition, Iron Into Wind is a more focused and inward looking set, though that's not to deny its scope and nuance. A dozen richly detailed cuts in the 3-6-minute range reveal influences which stretch from Czech composer Leo? Jan��?ek to

Mal Waldron

piano
1925 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Mal Waldron. Hawkins takes a modular approach to his written material, with kernels of melody and reiterated motifs emerging so naturally from an abstract flow that they retain the freshness and unpredictability of improvisations.

That sense of exploration means he sidesteps steady tempo, favoring a lurching momentum rather than swing, going where the inspiration leads. Stuttering tremolos snag attention, found in diverse guises, among the delicate gestures of "Song All The Way," which bring to mind early

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett, as well as in the keyboard traverses of "Tough Like Imagination" which send overtones fizzing between the speakers. Lyric fragments also surface, notably among the warped Gospel phrases during the mounting density of "Congregational." On "Strange Courage," Hawkins colors the intermittent figures with the slightest of blue tinges, making it near the equal in tunefulness stakes of the cascading lilt of "It Should Be A Song."

Although more distant, links to the jazz piano pantheon remain. On "Pleasant Constellation" reflections derived from

Sun Ra

piano
1914 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Sun Ra's "Fate In A Pleasant Mood" lead to ringing sustains piled up one atop the other, until he finishes with spasmodic flourishes which contrast flickering figures with reverberating echo. On "Hard As Threads" thick muscular lines with a hint of

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor bookend a sparkling interlude, then on "Tumble Mono" he unearths a resounding left hand groove recalling

Craig Taborn

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Craig Taborn in his pomp. But while he may acknowledge the masters, Hawkins sounds like none of them as he increasingly carves a singular niche.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Song All The Way; Congregational; Tough Like Imagination; Pleasant Constellation; Gossamer Like A Ghost Tree; Strange Courage; It Should Be A Song; Hard As Threads; Tumble Mono; Wander/Wonder; We All Bleed; Etude.

Personnel

Alexander Hawkins

piano

Alexander Hawkins: piano.

Album information

Title: Iron Into Wind | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Intakt Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Luca Curcio's Sabir in concert at Fo...
< Previous

La Casa Murada MoonJune Sessions, Vo...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.